12
Thursday, July 16, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MULTIMEDIA
Champion Farm: A family farm’s response to COVID-19
There’s an ambient humming
noise
inside
the
barn,
an
industrial sized fan circulating the
sweltering heat and establishing a
light breeze that moved through
the straw covering the ground.
Lindsay Champion enters the barn,
breaking up the group of Jersey
Cows gathered in front of the
breeze. She leads the girls one by
one to the opposite end of the room,
tying them to the wall and spraying
their legs with fly spray. Lindsay
wheels in the milking equipment
and sets up next to the first cow,
who waits patiently throughout
the process. Beginning with an
iodine disinfectant solution and
initial milking by hand, Lindsay
connects the milking device once
any bacteria has been cleared.
The closed system makes the milk
cleaner and safer for distribution
to members of the herd share who
receive milk from the Champion
Family Farm.
When the milking process is
complete, Lindsay leads the cows
out to pasture. The girls and the
two calves follow her in a single-
file line to their designated area.
The grass is tall in comparison
to the plot next to it that was cut
down by yesterday’s grazing. The
silent solitude of the open field
is disrupted by huffing, snorting,
and tearing noises of grass being
ripped from the ground as the
cows spread out, chomping across
the plot. They’ll stay here for the
majority of the day, returning to
the barn for the night when it is
time for their second milking of
the day at 11 p.m.
With the cows and milking
taken care of, everyone’s attention
is turned to preparing for the
Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) member pick-up happening
in just a few hours. The Champion
Family
Farm’s
CSA
program
allows community members to
make an upfront investment in the
farm in exchange for a bi-weekly
share of the vegetables produced
at the farm. Each member receives
a crop box filled with in season,
freshly harvested produce that
varies with each pick-up. Today’s
box includes a fragrant assortment
of garlic scapes, green onions,
shallots, kale, chard, strawberries,
and lettuce mix. CSA share days
are busy, as harvesting, dividing
and distributing the produce are
all tasks that must be completed in
addition to the other daily chores.
Kevin and Lindsay Champion have
been working since dawn, but
time is still of the essence. Empty
crop-boxes are lined up in the pole
barn while Lindsay, with the help
of employee Mark Abrams, work
quickly to divide and prepare the
vegetables for the crop boxes.
There are more CSA members at
the farm this year, an increase that
the Champion family attributes
to changes related to the COVID-
19 pandemic. After seeing empty
shelves in grocery stores amid
panicked food shopping, many
community
members
turned
to local CSA programs as an
alternative to big-box stores and
unreliable
commercial
supply
chains. The temporary closure of
farmers markets and restaurants
resulted in many small farms,
including the Champion Family
Farm,
being
forced
to
find
alternative ways to distribute their
produce. For many, this meant
increasing the number of CSA
memberships to make-up for what
would normally be distributed
at markets and restaurants. This
pivot was successful for the
Champion family, but according to
Jae Gerhart, an MSU Food Systems
Coordinator
for
Washtenaw
County, was a struggle for others.
“A lot of farms have sold too many
shares and are struggling to supply
all the members,” Gerhart said.
“They just got excited by all the
increased demand.”
Meanwhile, large scale farms
have had their own struggles
in relation to the pandemic,
their size preventing them from
adapting quickly to changes in
supply chains. “They couldn’t
shift as fast,” Gerhart said. “The
system righted itself within two
weeks, which is pretty fast, but it
took all hands on deck.” Gerhart
mentioned that some farms were
forced to dump milk and overturn
crops like onions and potatoes.
Lindsay interjected in shock, “Oh,
no! Storage crops!” The idea of
turning over a storage crop like
onions, that can cure in the field,
is horrific to Lindsay, but the chaos
that took place at industrial farms
differed from the struggles of
smaller, organic farms like hers.
With her infant son strapped to
her chest and her toddler kicking
up dust in the driveway, Lindsay
described some of the trouble
they’ve had with pests and weather
at the farm. The unpredictable
challenges bring a certain level of
risk for share members, as some
pick-ups can be lighter than others
as a result. Lindsay worries about
ensuring produce distribution, but
it is a risk that members are willing
to take in exchange for fresh, in
season vegetables.
As 3 p.m. approaches, Kevin
joins Lindsay in the pole barn with
their teenage son and Mark to
complete the distribution process.
Hands are busy cutting down
the ends of the green onions and
counting out sweetpeas, while the
toddler, Solstice, quality checks
the strawberries by sampling a
berry from each box. The team
finishes just in time, the crop-
boxes packed and lined up neatly
as cars start to pull up in front of
the pole barn. The Champions
take
a
well
deserved
break,
sitting and greeting the members
as they arrive for their share.
Members make light conversation
beneath their face masks, talking
to Lindsay about the contents of
this week’s box, recipe ideas and
goings on at the farm. Some stay
longer than others, chatting with
each other and enjo ying the views
of open fields and rows of crops in
the distance. Lindsay explains to
one of the members that she has
the choice between kale and chard,
since some boxes have one or the
other. The woman is happy to take
either, and ends up selecting the
box with chard to try something
new.
The rush of the morning chores,
preparation and initial pick ups
slows as the day progresses. A
late afternoon lull seems to have
set in, but work continues despite
the slower pace. Lindsay leaves
the pole barn with the baby on
her hip. She sits down on the edge
of a crop field and starts weeding
the outermost row. A member
that has just arrives comes to join
her, chatting and sitting down to
help with the task. Kevin is busy
cleaning out the pole barn to make
room for the freshly baled hay to
be stored. There are a few more
shares waiting to be picked-up,
but there’s no rush. The evening
chores still loom, but no one seems
to be thinking of those now as they
enjoy the relief and temporary
relaxation of another successfully
completed share day.
ALEXIS RANKIN
Staff Photographer
PHOTO ESSAY